Reply #26: From that same link [View All]

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. That Cuba is ranked worse in healthcare than the United States is not the issue. The movie showed very clearly that, according to national rankings made by the World Health Organization, the United States ranked #37 in quality of care compared to Cuba's #39. But his restating of this fact -- clearly given in the movie -- he ignores the points that Moore was making: that the United States ranked only two notches higher than a third world country held hostage by almost half a century of embargoes, and that Cubans have universal access to what medical care is available, which is still more than what millions of Americans can get.

2. Gupta got his facts wrong, flat out. To date, he still has not admitted his error, much less apologized for how he promoted incorrect information as documented fact. That refusal is exactly the point I wish to highlight.

3. The refutations target what Gupta, on CNN, stated about Sicko!. In the refutation of this "mistake," Moore uses the 2006 United Nations Human Development Report. This source was noted in the movie and documented in the companion book. Which source would you have used?

4. Moore did not concede the point. Rather, he pointed out that 47 million Americans are uninsured and are rarely allowed to be patients at all; they were not included in "patient satisfaction." Gupta also ignored consideration of the fact that the other nations in the satisfaction survey had universal or near universal health care, adding a far broader array of people into the survey.

5. The refutations target what Gupta, on CNN, stated about Sicko!. Moore did not concede point, he states that Gupta quoted a single fact about elective surgery. Moore also notes, again, that the US statistic excludes millions of Americans that lack health coverage, while the other five countries in the comparison all have universal or near universal health care systems.

6 & 7. Has Gupta refuted Paul Keckley? No. The fact that Gupta defended Keckley and his alleged research after Keckley's ties to a right-wing think-tank and lobbying group had been made public is relevant with regards to the lies and distortions about Sicko! that Gupta perpetrated.

8. You can, of course, prove that Moore fudged his facts?